Feeling Springy

I'm annoyed. My anxiety disorder has relapsed after a long peaceful time of ticking along merrily with it tucked away. My doctor is amazing. She says "Be kind to yourself" and just having warmer, sunnier days makes me feel brighter. The damn anxiety disorder has cost me a lot but I just have to look at what I have achieved in spite of it, and I'm proud of myself.

I think my dear blogs help me to celebrate the lovely things in life, so I will continue recording special things in photos and words, regardless of whether anyone actually visits.

Over the last week there have been lots of lovely and interesting things going on. My darling Johnny, who is the centre of my Universe decided to make yo yo biscuits. Yummo!!! A husband who occasionally gets the urge to made delicious biscuits is well worth holding onto.

We shared these with our very special friends The Crafty Neighbours. We love our weekend get togethers for coffee o'clock. Well, tea in my case. I have some lovely, lovely friends. My dear friend Donna gave me these Tete-a-Tete daffodils in a wee bucket yesterday. What a treat! 

 She gave me this delicious pansy trio another time. I adore it.

 Today Johnny arrived home today with a treat for me. Macarons. The pretty pale pink on is rosewater flavoured - my favourite - and the glorious plum coloured one is blackcurrant. So delicious with a cup of tea.

 Oooh, why not? Another view of the sweet wee daffs.

Of course you know what else makes me happy. Yes, Zanny. Here she is after our ride today. That is the rubbish pile waiting to be a bonfire in the background. She loves the grass by the fire pile. 

 She is wearing her lovely warm winter cover. We went up the road and around the triangle block today. We even negotiated a flock of sheep coming towards us. Zanny was all wide-eyed, but I'm sure she remembered her days as a stock horse when she was young and was very good. The sheep wheeled around and started following us, so I stopped so that the shepherds could push them on where they were supposed to be going.

 I'd like you to meet my newest horse friend. He suddenly appeared and is now Zanny's paddock mate. Tara has been moved to a big, grassy 10 acre block with the yearlings to fatten up the foal in her tummy. This is Hubee (Hughby???). Well, however you spell it, he is a sweetie. Zanny seems to like him.

 And here is his mummy. Yes, my friend Dolly!

 Hubee has had a very successful career as a trotter. He is a Standardbred. With his lovely nature and amazing career, his owners decided he deserves a chance of a post-racing life. I don't even want to think about what happens to so many race horses who have been unsuccessful or injured. It is horrible that they are not regarded as potentially fantastic pleasure or competition horses. Pacers have an especially unpromising future, because they have difficulty trotting and cantering smoothly, which makes them an uncomfortable ride unless successfully (and I'd imagine intensively) retrained.

Lucky Hubee is hopefully going to have a fun future, although he did unexpectedly pace on his first practise with Emily on his back. What was that all about??

Hubee and Dolly have lots to discuss. Maybe she is telling him that if he paces he will end up in a cat food tin. As she is well into her 20's and hates most people, she must have the secret to Standardbred longevity.

Yes, this little darling probably eats washed up race horses:

 Who me?

 Well, maybe. They are delicious.

My Birthday Girl

It has been a week for birthdays in our family this week. Happy birthday to my darling sister Meg, and my dear, sweet niece, Lucy, who is very excited about starting school next week. Wow five years old! I remember the excitement of waiting to be an auntie for the first time. I'm not a mother (well, not a person mother), which does have advantages. But I have also missed out on so much not having my own wee people to nurture. I've got plenty of children in my life with work, and I do have my furry children to love. I do find the three children of my siblings fascinating, and I love to hear what they are up to. 

This was an especially big week for my biggest furry friend. Zanny turned the grand old age of 20! She is looking a bit like it in these photos, as she was rather lethargic standing in the yard before our ride. She's got her full winter woollies on, but has started shedding already. It was quite warm, so I was hoping she was just sleepy standing in the sun. Thoroughbred horses in New Zealand have their official birthday on the 1st of August, so I celebrated today. I did ask Zanny if she had a hangover after a fantastic birthday party last night, but she wasn't telling! 

 Our lovely friend Heather made Zanny a birthday cake, which she was extremely excited about. If you want to make your big best equine friend a present, molasses, rolled oats, carrots and apples make a very delicious cake for a horse. Heather had arranged carrot sticks on the top like candles, and it looked amazing, but Mrs Zanny wasn't holding back and I didn't get a photo of the masterpiece. Here it goes after she had a good go at it. She also gave some to her friends Tee and George, who thought it was a great treat.

 Obviously it is hard work being 20. Once we got going she perked up a lot as the wind was blowing and she had to keep an eye out for spooky things. My balance is getting much better and I feel so much more confident than a few months ago. I think I'll ask Emily for another lesson because I have questions.

 I decided that I wanted to get Zanny a leather halter for her birthday, so went to The Saddlery Warehouse. Sale time! Wooo hooo. I found a well priced halter (see top photo - I haven't oiled it yet, so it looks a bit stiff), and also got a black saddle blanket and a "monkey" strap, which is a leather strap that you buckle onto the front of your saddle for extra security should you need it. Handy in a spook, but I like using one to hold onto when I am hacking with long reins. Another bargain find was a pair of lovely black leather boots in my perfect size. My old boots are really shabby now, but I'll still wear them on wet days because they are waterproof.

Mouse approved of the boot box.

 Here are my boots, with black half chaps. They are really smart and I am convinced I rode better with them on! Yes, they have laces like paddock boots, but a zip up the back for access.

 It was lovely and warm today. We have had a good week with the weather. I enjoyed feeling like spring is on the way. Look- snowdrops in the school garden.

I am back to more regular 'cello lessons this term. I missed my 'cello playing so much and I have reached an interesting level of ability, so it is a waste not to keep working at it. I'm currently playing Bloch's A Jewish Life which you can see being performed here. I can now say I specialize in playing pieces composed from the late Romantic and early Modern music periods - the moodier the better! My little finger is giving me a bit of trouble, and curses to that. Left little fingers are essential for 'cello playing, and lots of other things, I've discovered. 

I hope the weather is good again tomorrow because Zanny has leftover birthday cake to finish off, and it would be fun to go for a road ride as we worked in the arena today. Now the evenings are getting lighter I am determined to have a ride during the week. It would be good for both of us. 

Back to work

Well, as always, getting back to work means a lot less adventures and creating at home. I get really tired, so just have to do what I can. I rode Mrs Zanny yesterday out along the road. We went for quite an adventure, past the first spooky hayshed, past the big rows of plastic wrapped bales, past another spooky hayshed, along past some interesting properties, and past a wool shed. The road verges are very wide, and safe for trotting in most places. Zanny likes to go FAST when she trots. She'd be amazing in a trotting race. I have to try to keep her pace under control in case she stumbles. It is fun to race along though!

We are trying to get the front garden under control. Johnny pruned a big rose bush today, and did a great job. I'm hoping he'll help me with some more (hint hint). His dad was brilliant at pruning roses, and I think it might be hereditary.

I'm having fortnightly 'cello lessons this term. I'm starting this week, but I have a sore little finger on my left hand, which is important for playing. I'm hoping it will be OK, but it didn't take kindly to gardening today.

There's been a little bit of sewing this week. Pop over to my sewing blog to check up on what I have been working on. 

This and That

We've had plenty of very dreary days over the last two weeks. I managed a bit of a garden tidy up, Zanny got her shoe put back on (yes - I found it!), we've been out and about a little bit. Last night I went to the movie Jersey Boys, which is about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, so had lots of great music and I really enjoyed the story. The Crafty Neighbour wanted to see it, so I went with her, and was so glad I did. 

The garden is looking really damp and the grass has mud tracks every where. It showered on and off today, yet again. I do have some lovely hyacinths opening up. These three are supposed to be the same, but one is lagging so far behind that I'm wondering if it is a different variety. 

 These big plump ones look so promising.

 I planted several rows of garlic. This was some from a big daddy bulb given to me by Fisherman Jim (my Garlic God brother).

 I also did some work on one of my quilts.

 I have been a bit sidetracked by clothes sewing, so this has been lurking in the wings waiting for a day in the spotlight. I adore the fabrics.

 Mr Mouse approves too. What a scruffy man he is, and his head looks enormous here! He isn't weird looking like this in real life.

 Here's my latest clothing project, after a night out. You can read more about it on Poppy Sews.

I'm trying to decide whether this gets another outing tonight. We are going out for dinner (Indian - yummmm!) with Johnny's colleagues. Plenty of room around the tummy for expansion.

It has been a bit dull around here. Never mind. I guess when your biggest disappointment is that you have finished watching all of your Downton Abbey  DVDs, things could be a lot worse.

The Lost Shoe

The weather has been cold and windy around here. Not good for riding. Today I headed out and was pleased to discover the sun was shining out at the farm, so things were looking great for a lovely ride. That was until I brought Zanny in and realised she had lost a shoe somewhere in her enormous paddock. So I settled for a grooming session, then had a hunt for the shoe. Zanny's paddock not only has some pine trees at one end for shelter, but a large pond in it. There was no sign of the lost shoe. I could possibly ride her gently with a missing shoe, on soft ground, but her hooves tend to crack easily, and her shoes protect them from crumbling. I might just have to wait until the farrier visits the farm, which hopefully will be soon. What a bummer for the holidays. Zanny just looked at me knowingly, like she'd done it on purpose, and knew exactly where the shoe was hiding. 

Fergus has been a busy boy playing, sleeping and eating. He loves his cat tunnel. 

Look at those enormous blue eyes! They don't look real because they are so brilliant, gleaming like jewels. 

Mr Mouse has gone for a nap somewhere. I'm sure he'll appear when the fire is lit, and will take over Miss Dog's bed, stretching out so she has no room. They all love basking by the fire.

I'm going to make a big pot of minestrone soup for tea, and I couldn't be more pleased.

Pretty things for a grey day

What a dreary grey day today. It was drizzling for most of the day, but luckily yesterday was just cold and grey, so I was able to have a lovely ride on Mrs Zanny. We went on a wee adventure, exploring down a road we have only been on twice, when we did the big block a while ago. Zanny and I are getting on beautifully, and she was so well behaved. I'm much more confident, and we did quite a lot of trotting on the drier, smoother areas. The roads around the farm have very wide grass verges in most places, so it is a perfect area for hacking. Zanny is fantastic with traffic, ignoring everything we have ever come across, so I am very lucky. Actually, I lie, she did jump out of her skin when a cyclist suddenly appeared on the spooky hayshed corner. We don't come across many cyclists because some of the roads are shingle, and lycra clad cyclists seem to avoid those with their skinny wee tires. 

Zanny is getting quite excited because it is her 20th birthday soon. She wants a lovely new halter. I think I might see if I can surprise her with a brown leather one. I have a special sheepskin raiser pad for under her saddle ordered, but that might take a while. I use Em's one usually, but as other horsies use it we need our own. Emily said Zanny looks like a hairy pony at the moment. I'd have to agree! 

No use hoping for a ride today, so Johnny and I went out to do a few jobs. I joined the library! Yay! The Lincoln Library is now in a beautiful new building, and I have been looking forward to becoming a regular library user again. We were members of the Christchurch libraries, but when we moved out of the city we were no longer allowed to stroll on in and leave with armfuls of books. Today I felt that joy again, as I staggered back to the car with my load. I had to tell myself that we'd be back again soon, so I could leave some books behind for another day. 

I had a little poke around the house to take photos of a few pretty things since action has been slim on the ground. In fact this afternoon I had a nap on the couch, which I haven't done in ages. I found some little birdies (thanks Meg, Ryan and Henry for the gift). 

 Look - a summery magazine to make me look forward to warmer weather. I need lots of sundresses.

 Oh, Fergus, you are so pretty too!

Afternoon nap time.

 Where's Mouse? Not exactly handy for a photo. He has a lovely spot up on top of my shelves of pretty things. Even better, it is a kitten free zone. For now.

 Fergus has taken to destroying rolls of toilet paper, so we bought him his own toy, which he can kick and shred as much as be likes. He rather likes his new bunny, but fell asleep hugging it today. Something tells me the toilet rolls are still not safe.

 I love all of the pretty things in my chintz collection. I think it is time I found some more treasures. This wee delphinium cup is all alone, with no matching friends. The shape is so sweet, and I love the pattern.

 The Crafty friend bought me the "Keep Calm and Quilt On" fabric sticker.

 This was another market find, for only $15.

 Johnny rescued my wee embroidered pincushion from Fergus the Fiend last night. Hours of stitching slobbered on and munched by our wicked kitty. Luckily it didn't get the same treatment he gives to toilet rolls. Maul your bunny, Mr Kitten!!!!

 Hopefully the photos are going to work properly - I had a bit of trouble with Blogger today. Grrr. Pop over to the sewing blog for some more action.

What's on your "Bucket List"?

I was with a close family member when she died. I literally felt the life leave her body. As awful as it was to lose someone special, as a result of the experience, I'm not afraid of death. It was a transition to peace for the dear person who died. After that I lost other close family members- unexpectedly, suddenly, not so suddenly, after a long illness, and one very peacefully, so I know life is precious, and to be celebrated each day. I don't consider any discussion around this to be morbid, but to be a reminder that we must do those little things we long to do when possible, and not put them off. 

A good old "Bucket List", which I'd never heard of until I saw the movie of the same name, is a kind of fun way of thinking about special things we'd like to do in our lives. Take a look at my Bucket List Birman, just scooped up for a big under my chin cuddle, which he loves:

I could have left Mr Mouse as an only child, my best furry friend. I could have headed to the SPCA and rescued another kitten (yes -I did feel somewhat guilty about not doing that). But I had to listen to the wee message tucked away from childhood that told me I wanted a cat just like one I saw as a little girl. A Birman with points like a Siamese, fluffy fur and perfect white slippers.

 My Bucket List Birman has brought so much joy to our little family. He is delicious.

Now I'm thinking about what could be my next goal, but right now I'm pretty happy with a soft cuddle from my dear, perfect furry friend. Oh, and his wee white slippers are not quite so pristine after a good prowl in the garden!